Teaching has brought joy to Miriam Pyatt's life for the last 35 years. But this year, Pyatt's career came to an end as she made the rather emotional decision to retire.

"In the past, I could hardly wait to get to school," Pyatt said. "I just loved doing this. But the last couple of years, I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to stay so long that it was just a paycheck.

"Teaching isn't a job, it's fun. And I've played this game long enough."

Pyatt, Pottsville High School's 12th-grade English teacher, said she has a peace about her decision, even though she knows she will miss teaching.

"I just knew it was time," she said. "And it has not been easy. This is my family. They're not just colleagues, they're my brothers and sisters. We've grown up together."

She has served the Pottsville School District for the entire 35 years of her career.

"My husband and I graduated from Watson Chapel," she said. "He came to Tech, and I followed. He was working here, and I had a 2-year-old. So when I graduated college, we just stayed. This is home. I can't imagine being anywhere else."

Pyatt said she had never considered becoming a teacher until her sophomore year of high school, when she filled in for a sick teacher.

"I did not know I wanted to teach until 10th grade," she said. "One of the English teachers had to be hospitalized, and they came to the classroom where I was and said, 'We want you to take these classes.'

"I did that for two weeks. I would visit her at the hospital, and she would get me ready. I loved teaching, and before I knew it, I was graduating."

In retrospect, Pyatt said, although it was unusual for a student to be placed in a teaching role, it was providential.

"When you look back at where you came from, you realize you couldn't have missed it," she said. "But at the time, I would never have pictured myself becoming a teacher."

However, her ability in the teaching role and her love of knowledge seem to come naturally, Pyatt said.

"I have always loved reading and learning," she said. "There is nothing better than learning something new and sharing it with someone else - that's teaching.

"It was just like breathing - it's automatic. It's not like I made a decision; in a way, it was made for me."

Because she had always loved reading and thinking and contemplating ideas, Pyatt said teaching English was "a natural call."

"I loved books - I lived for them," she said. "My favorite thing to teach is literature. I like grammar because it's cut and dry and there are rules you have to follow. But I like literature because of the ideas you get to share. So much of literature is life on paper. I see practical life lessons in it."

During her time at Pottsville, Pyatt has taught English at various levels and has taught different types of literature.

"I prefer British literature," she said. "I have come to love American literature, and after teaching it so long, I can see those places where it merges."

One of the reasons she said she loves British literature so much is because of its long history.

"American literature, when it started, there was not really much 'literature,'" Pyatt said. "Most of the early American literature is actually historic documents. Literature didn't really start appearing until the 1800s, and by that time, the British had 1,500 years of literature."

She also said the themes vary among the two types of literature.

"In American literature, the theme is the American dream or self-actualization," Pyatt said. "In British literature, the themes are more about man's role in the world.

"And in British literature, there is so much faith in it. It seems like there was a point in American literature when we quit expressing faith through it."

Although she said she enjoys teaching Shakespeare, Pyatt said there are many other writers and poets she finds equally fascinating.

"I like Shakespeare, and I never fail to find something new each time we study one of his plays," she said. "But I have also fallen in love with Joseph Conrad and the Brontes, Chaucer and Milton and all the Romantic poets."

Larry Dugger, Pottsville High School principal, said Pyatt has been a foundation for the school for many years and would be missed.

"Mrs. Pyatt has gone the extra mile for all her students and has demonstrated a burning desire to help all students," he said. "She will be remembered for her dedication to her students, fellow teachers and school."

Since she began teaching, Pyatt has witnessed and experienced many changes in the educational system.

"When I started in 1970, I taught 8-12 grades," she said. "You did so much, but I was young, so it didn't bother me. As our numbers increased, we added more people, and I kept moving up. This is the first year I've taught only 12th graders. I've taught speech, journalism and directed plays."

The expectations of teachers have also changed over the years, Pyatt said.

"When I first started, you knew your subject, and they left it to the teacher to determine what was taught," she said. "Now, the focus, instead of being on the art of teaching, is on the frameworks and files and record-keeping. I'm not saying that's all bad, but it has changed how teachers teach.

"A lot of the [frameworks] are research-based. This is good stuff. I wish I had known it, or could verbalize it, in 1970. Teachers then knew it instinctively."

To be a good teacher, Pyatt said, an individual has to be able to combine his or her unique style with the basic things students need to be taught.

"There's an art of teaching, and there's a science of teaching," Pyatt said. "A good teacher puts those together."

She said the most rewarding thing about teaching is watching her students succeed.

"My favorite thing about teaching is pushing kids to excel," Pyatt said. "Sometimes they don't realize the ability they have. They're afraid of taking risks and afraid to fail. But I always tell them that's how we learn.

"I've always been told that I'm hard and demanding, and I say, 'Yes I am. Because there's so much you can do and achieve, but you're not going to if you don't take some risks.'"

Pyatt said she also enjoys the preparation involved in teaching.

"I like planning and organizing and putting things together to build units of instruction," she said. "Sometimes I have more fun planning it than the actual teaching of it.

"And I like making literature live for them - getting it off of the page and making it real. That's a real challenge for all English teachers."

Besides grammar and writing skills, Pyatt said she hopes she teaches students lessons about life in general.

"When we read stories about other cultures, I hope they see life lessons," she said. "I hope they see people struggling. A good story can illustrate the world for us. We live vicariously through literature because we don't have to experience a problem to see it and to see the solutions."

According to Pyatt, teachers, students and families work together to ensure the success of her students.

"It seems that teachers are held so accountable for what goes on in the classroom - and they should be," she said. "But there are three groups of people who have to be accountable - the teachers, the students and the parents or families at home. It's working in that unit to get the best results that makes our children successful.

"You have to realize these are human beings. They're children even though they're seniors. It's been a great pleasure to see them grow and change."

During her retirement, Pyatt said she would still like to be involved in education through volunteer opportunities.

"I want to help teachers," she said. "I want to come back and help take some of the load off them by volunteering.

"But I also want to spend some time with my parents, who are both in their 80s. My mom and dad are so excited that I'll be able to come see them, to come visit for an extended time now because I won't have to get back for school. I've got obligations to my family and to myself."

Although she isn't sure what the rest of her life holds for her, Pyatt said she believes God has a calling for her beyond teaching.

"I have this feeling that there's something I'm to do," she said. "I'm not so much searching for something to do, but I'm being still and letting it find me.

"It doesn't mean I'm not afraid or that I won't miss it. Ever since I was 6 years old, I've gone to school in the fall. I told my seniors at the end of this year, 'I know what you're feeling because I'm feeling it, too.'

"I wanted to leave strong, while I was still making a contribution. I'm excited. There aren't many times when you get to take a new road."

Pyatt and her husband, Don, have been married 40 years. They have one daughter, Melanie, and three grandchildren.

"She left no doubt with her students or administration that teaching is what her purpose in life was and always will be," Dugger said. "Not a minute went by in her classes that students weren't being taught something.

"She always had a plan in mind for each and every student and never wavered from that plan. Her one desire was that every student reach their potential in life, and she strived to help them get there."